Tournament: PGA Championship, May 16-19, 2024
Course: Valhalla Golf Club, 7,609 yards, par 71. On the outskirts of Louisville, KY.
Purse: $17.5 million total, $3.15 million to the winner. And actually slightly less than the payout at last week’s Wells Fargo Championship, a Signature Event on the Tour. But this major is hosted by the PGA of America, not the PGA Tour so the numbers won’t necessarily align.
Defending Champ: Brooks Koepka. The LIV golfer who eschews his LIV team logo when he plays a major (and probably pays a fine for doing so), came in hot and left even hotter. The proverbial chip on his shoulder was hearing the conventional wisdom his golf game was gone and not getting better only tested against the player-friendly formats and small fields he plays against on the LIV Tour. After an opening 74, he roared back with consistently great golf finishing 68-68-69. He won by 2, holding off playing partner Viktor Hovland and putting distance against some of the hottest golfer on the planet such as Scottie Scheffler, Hovland, and Rory McIlroy.
Fun Fact: This isn’t a “fun” fact so much as a point of interest or something to ponder. The divorce of Rory McIlroy and Erica Stoll became public Monday afternoon. If you’re thinking of shading Rory because he might be distracted, consider this: 10 years ago, McIlroy broke off the engagement to tennis pro Caroline Wozniacki very suddenly. He went on to win the British Open, won the WGC Firestone 2 weeks later, and won the PGA Championship at Valhalla the week after that. And you know what? He’s won the last two tournaments he’s played. Hhhmmmm.
TV Times: Thursday 12:00-8:00 pm ET (ESPN), Friday 12:00-7:00 pm ET (ESPN), Saturday-Sunday 10:00 am – 1:00 pm ET (ESPN), and 1:00-7:00 pm ET (CBS). In addition, coverage before ESPN will be available on ESPN+.
‘Dawgs in the Field: 7. Russell Henley, Sepp Straka, Brian Harman, Harris English, Brendon Todd, Chris Kirk, Keith Mitchell.
So who is the favorite? Brooks Koepka is not only the defending champ, but he just won his last start on the LIV Tour so he’s in good form. World #1 Scottie Scheffler is a brand-new father, and this will be his first start since qualifying for a child tax credit, then realizing he phased out of the credit based on his gazillion dollars in prize money – having won 4 of his last 5 starts. Rory McIlroy has won his last 2 tourneys, the team event in NOLA and just last week the Wells Fargo in Charlotte – and in impressive come-from-behind fashion.
And did we mention that McIlroy’s last major win was the PGA Championship at this very course? It’s been 10 years since that late Sunday when Rory pushed the issue and pushed Phil Mickelson to the side to grab his 4th major at the young age of 25. So I think the Irishman might have some good feelings, coming off very recent success and with great memories of this particular track.
And a washed-up, broken-down, career twilight hack with the moniker of Eldrick. Sure enough, Tiger Woods is playing the PGA Championship, utilizing his “life-time” exemption from winning 4 times previously. John Daly is using the same qualification criteria.
If you took all those storylines out, the big one might be that Jordan Spieth is once again looking to complete the career grand slam. Like Rory at the Masters and Phil at the US Open, Spieth needs a single victory at this major to join the select group to have won all four majors in their career.
While the former Bulldogs have had solid showings this season (including Kirk winning in Hawaii), the results have not risen along with the temperatures. Straka and Kirk had the best finishes at the Masters (T16), Harman did have his tie for 2nd at the Players, but that was 3 months ago. Henley might be showing the best form of late – he had a 4th place in Texas last month, a tie for 12th in Hilton Head, and a tie for 10th last week in Charlotte (also a big layout).
The PGA Championship is a full-field major, but it does include 20 PGA teaching/club professionals – a different designation than a PGA Tour playing professional. These guys are all scratch players, but they are not playing full-time and honestly outgunned against the depth of the world’s best Tour players.
Unless your name is Michael Block. The club pro from Mission Viejo made quite the splash at last year’s PGA Championship held at historic Oak Hill. He was the only club pro to make the weekend cut, so he garnered a lot of fans as the ultimate underdog against the world’s elite. Then he happened to ace a par 3 late in the day Sunday while playing with McIlroy, which made him everyone’s favorite. Sneaky news, he made a clutch up and down on the 72nd hole to secure a tie for 15th. Which means he’s qualified for this year’s championship too.
Valhalla is not only home to all the kings of lore, it is a big ballpark. Zoysia fairways, bluegrass rough, and bent greens wind through the rolling hills of northern Kentucky. There are some monster par 3s and par 4s thanks to recent lengthening, but the most exciting holes are probably the short par 4 13th and the reachable par 5 18th.
Rain Wednesday softened up the course and probably mean the winning score will be a couple of strokes lower than if it was fast and firm. It should be exciting no matter what, and hopefully one of these 7 former Bulldogs in the field will make some noise in Bourbon country. Enjoy, and as always…
GO ‘DAWGS!!!